I hadn't yet climbed off of my cloud this morning, a nirvana I reached yesterday, when the Philadelphia Phillies -- my Philadelphia Phillies -- clinched their first playoff berth since 1993.

Not until I pulled open the opinions page of yesterday's Daily Collegian, the newspaper of which I'm proud to consider myself a staff member, was I knocked back to earth.

Looming over Kevin Doran's column, as imposing as slugger Ryan Howard in the on-deck circle, was an incorrect headline. The butterflies in my stomach morphed into nausea.
"I can't believe the Phils made World Series," it read.

Amidst all the hoopla yesterday -- including my completely ignoring an embarrassing Eagles' loss -- I somehow missed the juicy tidbit that the Phils had already been crowned National League champions.

Sure, that's exactly what I felt like when Brett Myers recorded the last out. But I know the journey ahead. We Philadelphia sports fans don't take these things for granted. After all, the playoffs haven't even started yet.

But with a few swift strokes of the keyboard, I felt like we jinxed the Phils again.

So with this little blurb, I plead to you, baseball deity of all things diamond: Forgive our insolence. We really didn't mean it.

We already have the Curse of Billy Penn. The Phillies haven't even sniffed the Fall Classic since I was 7 years old when Super Nintendo was the coolest thing ever.

I really don't want to wait another 14 years.

Joseph Dolan is a senior majoring in journalism and is the Collegian's assistant sports editor. His e-mail is jdolan@psu.edu.